Information and Resources for Current Students and Families

Johnson String & Carriage House Violins

New England's premier violin shop in Newton, MA for rentals, sales, supplies and accessories. 

Ask for Julie Metcalf, my band-mate and store manager, and tell her I sent you!

Acoustic Strings of New England

Run out of Keene, NH, but with a shop in Somerville's Armory for the Arts, Acoustic is my second choice for violin rentals. Slightly cheaper and much closer than Johnson's, and very friendly, if a little harder to get a hold of. 

Shar Music 

Big online strings shop- they are actually staffed by people that know and love all things violin, so please support them over Amazon! They will ship strings for free. They also have a good selection of cheaper carbon fiber bows. 

Southwest Strings

Another large online strings shop, like Shar. 

My main curriculum for most students is the online resource www.fiddlequest.com. 

I work through Level 5 and then move to a more individualised curriculum including many tunes commonly played in the Boston Irish, Scottish, Old Time and Contradance scenes. 

I also use books from the curriculum list to the right. 

Scale Books

Trinity College London Violin Scales, Arpeggios and Studies: Initial- Grade 8

Sensible Scales Plus! For Violin & Fiddle by Julianna Waller 

Scales for Young Violinists, by Barbara Berber 

Sight Reading 

Fiddle Time Joggers (#1), Runners (#2) and Sprinters (#3)  by Kathy and David Blackwell

Method Books

O'Connor Method Book III

O'Connor Method Book IV

Doflein Violin Method Books 1-4